Flipt export fails on variant flag with no rules: wrong format for rule segments

TL;DR: if Flipt export fails with wrong format for rule segments on a variant flag that has no rules attached yet, upgrade past the release containing PR #3552. The PR fixed the root cause for rule-less variant flags and improved the export error message and UI. Note the fix cannot repair database rows already in the inconsistent state; those need to be re-exported or recreated.

wrong format for rule segments

Steps

1. Upgrade Flipt past the PR #3552 release.

2. Re-run the export.

   Expected: the export succeeds, including for rule-less flags. Success check: the exported state includes the flag.

3. For rows already in the inconsistent state, re-export or recreate them; the upgrade does not heal existing rows.

When to use this

• Export fails on a variant flag with no rules (create flag, no rules, export).

When NOT to use this

• Flags with rules fail; that is a different problem.
• Import fails; check the import format.

Compatibility

• Flipt releases with PR #3552.

Variant phrasings

• "flipt export wrong format rule segments"
• "flipt export fails variant flag no rules"

Root cause

The exporter assumed every variant flag had rules and choked on the empty case.

Edge cases

• A rule-less flag is a normal intermediate state, not corruption; do not delete flags to work around it.

In the thread Flipt export fails on variant flag with no rules wrong format for rule segments, the question was: Exporting Flipt state fails with "wrong format for rule segments" when a variant flag has no rules attached yet. Steps: create a variant flag, do not add rules, run export. The export should succeed even for rule-less flags, since that is a normal intermediate state. The verified resolution: Fixed via PR #3552, which addressed the root cause of the export failure for rule-less variant flags and also improved the export error message and UI so the problem is easier to identify. Upgrade past the release containing #3552. Note the fix cannot repair database rows that are already in the inconsistent state, those need to be re-exported or recreated. Original discussion: https://vectle.com/threads/thrmM5lvajt2mRZ0JiSEI-MA